Meanings
nounoptimate (plural optimates)
plural optimates
- historicalA member of the patrician ruling class in republican Ancient Rome; an aristocrat, a noble.
The elaboration of her sateen costume (somewhat dirty and torn now) showed that she was an optimate.
1980, Gene Wolfe, chapter XII, in The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun; 1), New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 1121 more example
Over the same decade, the upper stratum of Visigothic society, the optimates gradually lost their influence.
2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms, Penguin, published 2012, page 23
Origin
- Latinoptimātēs
- Englishoptimate
From Latin optimātēs, masculine plural form of optimās (“best, noblest”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch optimaat
- optimaatmember of the patrician ruling class in republican Ancient Rome
French optimate
- optimatemember of the patrician ruling class in republican Ancient Rome
German Optimat, Optimatin
- Optimatmember of the patrician ruling class in republican Ancient Rome
- Optimatinmember of the patrician ruling class in republican Ancient Rome
Italian ottimate
- ottimatemember of the patrician ruling class in republican Ancient Rome
Cite this entry
APA
optimate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/optimate
MLA
“optimate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/optimate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “optimate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/optimate.
Source: optimate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.